Escherichia coli O157:H7 – Discerning Facts from Fiction: An Integrated Research and Extension Project for Multiple Audiences

The O157:H7 (EcO157) epidemiology of Shiga‐toxin‐producing Escherichia coli (STEC) in cattle is complex, and myths about pre‐harvest control are perpetuated. The objectives of this project were to identify perpetuated misinformation and inform four audiences about evidence‐based risks and pre‐harvest control of EcO157 by addressing: (i) EcO157 epidemiology and pre‐harvest control; (ii) how food safety policy is created; and (iii) how to present accurate information about EcO157. An environmental scan using a daily Internet search helped identify themes for education. A literature review of pre‐harvest control measures contributed to the development of educational materials (fact sheets, website, web presentations and conferences). Conference 1 was a webinar with 315 registrants, 10 countries including 41 US states and four Canadian provinces. Most participants felt confident in using their new knowledge, more than half felt confident enough to answer EcO157 questions from the public and many would recommend the recorded version of the webinar to colleagues. Conference 2 was live in the Washington, DC, area with most participants employed by the US government. All agreed that they better understood pre‐harvest control, how food safety policy was made, and were confident they could create an effective message about STEC pre‐harvest control. Videos were posted and received 348 Internet visitors within 2 months. Conference 3 was a webinar with a live audience and Twitter feeds, targeting people who give nutrition advice. Almost all ranked the programme good to excellent and relevant to their work. About 25% indicated that they would share: ‘grass‐fed beef is not safer than grain‐fed’, 25% would share information on effectiveness of cattle vaccines, and 14% would share information on message mapping. Across all conferences, major changes in knowledge included the following: there is no additional risk of EcO157 shedding from grain‐fed versus grass‐fed cattle, pre‐harvest vaccination is efficacious, and production systems (pasture versus confinement) do not affect EcO157 shedding rates.     

Demonstration of the absence of intervening sequences (IVSs) within 16S rRNA genes of Taylorella equigenitalis and Taylorella asinigenitalis isolates

A total of 57 Taylorella equigenitalis (n=22) and Taylorella asinigenitalis (n=35) isolates was shown not to carry any intervening sequences (IVSs) within 16S rRNA gene sequences. By contrast, we have already shown the genus Taylorella group to carry several kinds of IVSs within the 23S rRNA gene sequences.     

Serological Status and Abortion Rate in Progeny Obtained by Natural Service or Embryo Transfer from Neospora caninum‐Seropositive Cows

Bovine neosporosis is an important disease in dairy herds in Argentina. Embryo transfer (ET) technology offers the opportunity to minimize vertical transmission of neosporosis. The objective of this work was to compare the serological status and the incidence of abortion between heifers obtained via natural service and heifers obtained by ET from Neospora‐infected cows. Progeny from eight Neospora‐infected cows belonging to a commercial dairy farm where ET was routinely performed were studied. Between 1996 and 2001, 16 and 15 heifers were obtained by natural service and ET, respectively. Serostatus and reproductive performance were recorded in both progeny. Serostatus was determined by indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). All heifers obtained by natural service were seropositive and six of 16 pregnancies ended in abortion. All heifers obtained by ET were seronegative and only two abortions of 15 pregnancies were recorded.     

Toxicoses associated with administration of mitoxantrone to dogs with malignant tumors

One hundred twenty-nine dogs with histologically confirmed malignant tumors were used in a prospective study to determine the toxicity of the new dihydroxyquinone derivative of anthracene, mitoxantrone, which was administered IV at 21-day intervals at dosages ranging from 2.5 to 5 mg/m2 body surface area. Each dog was evaluated for signs of toxicosis for 3 weeks after each dose was administered or until the dog died, whichever came first. The number of dogs in each evaluation period were as follows: 1 dose (n = 129), 2 doses (n = 82), 3 doses (n = 43), 4 doses (n = 26), 5 doses (n = 19), 6 doses (n = 9), 7 doses (n = 6), 8 doses (n = 5), 9 doses (n = 3), and 10 doses (n = 1). The most common signs of toxicosis were vomiting, diarrhea, anorexia, and sepsis secondary to myelosuppression. None of the dogs died of complications resulting from mitoxantrone treatment. Dogs with signs of toxicosis during the 21-day interval from administration of the first dose of mitoxantrone were 95 times (P = 0.003) more likely to develop signs of toxicosis during the 21-day interval from the second dose of mitoxantrone. Similarly, dogs that developed signs of toxicosis during the 21-day interval from the administration of the second dose were 34 times (P less than 0.001) more likely to develop signs of toxicosis during the 21-day interval from the administration of the third dose. With each 1 mg/m2 increase in mitoxantrone, the odds of developing signs of toxicosis increased by 5.9 fold (P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Utilization of cytoplasmic lysozyme immunoreactivity as a histiocytic marker in canine histiocytic disorders

Immunoreactive lysozyme was readily detectable in canine histiocytic disorders including systemic histiocytosis, malignant histiocytosis and granulomatous panniculitis. Lysozyme was less reliable as a histiocytic marker in cutaneous histiocytoma; forty percent of these tumors were negative for lysozyme expression. The marked heterogeneity in lysozyme expression in cutaneous histiocytoma may indicate that a proportion of these tumors show relatively primitive histiocytic differentiation and do not express lysozyme. Alternatively, this same proportion may exhibit a phenotype akin to cutaneous Langerhans cells which do not contain lysozyme. Lysozyme was not detectable in the tumor cells in lymphomatoid granulomatosis, atypical cutaneous histiocytoma, and histiocytic lymphosarcoma. Other evidence that these three disorders do not represent true histiocytic proliferative disorders is discussed.     

Retrospective outcome evaluation for dogs with surgically excised,solitary Kiupel high‐grade,cutaneous mast cell tumours

Published outcomes for dogs with specifically high‐grade mast cell tumours (MCTs), controlled for clinical stage, are few. Clinical outcomes for 49 dogs with Kiupel high‐grade, clinical stage I, cutaneous MCTs were evaluated. Median survival time (MST) was 1046 days; 1 and 2‐year survival rates were 79.3% and 72.9%, respectively. At study end 24 dogs had died, 23 dogs were alive (median follow‐up 980 days) and 2 dogs were lost to follow‐up. Death was considered MCT‐related in 14 of 20 dogs with a known cause of death. Local tumour recurrence developed in nine dogs (18.4%); regional lymph node metastasis occurred in six dogs (12.2%); and a new MCT developed in 15 dogs (30.1%). Tumour location, histologic margin size and use of chemotherapy did not affect MST; increasing mitotic count (P = .001) and increasing tumour diameter (P = .024) were independently negatively prognostic. Six dogs that developed lymph node metastasis after surgery had worse MST (451 days) than 42 dogs that did not develop metastasis (1645 days); (P < .001). Our study suggests that dogs with local surgical control of clinical stage I histologically high Kiupel grade cutaneous MCT may have a long survival time; especially those with smaller tumours and a lower mitotic count. Our results suggest that evaluation of staging information and mitotic count may be equally helpful as histologic grading when making a prognosis; and highlight the importance of not relying on histologic grade alone when predicting survival for dogs with MCT.     

Occurrence of antibodies against Neospora caninum in water buffaloes (Bubalus bubalis) on four ranches in Corrientes province, Argentina

The aim of the present work was to describe the occurrence of antibodies to Neospora caninum in water buffaloes on four ranches located in Corrientes province in the northeast of Argentina. Antibodies against N. caninum were determined in sera of 449 water buffaloes by using an indirect fluorescent antibody test (IFAT). A Bayesian logistic regression mixed model was used to quantify the strength of association between positive serological results to N. caninum and gender, age and category (calf, steer, heifer, cow) as risk factors. Antibody titers were found in 287 (64%) buffaloes. All ranches had seropositive animals. Age was more strongly associated with positive results to N. caninum (OR: 1.4; CI 95%: 0.86-2.22) than gender (OR: 1.02, CI 95%: 0.40-2.59) and category (OR: 0.88, CI 95%: 0.57-0.88). Results suggest a high exposure of water buffaloes to N. caninum by postnatal transmission in these four ranches located in Corrientes province, Argentina. Further studies are needed to quantify the consequences of Neospora-infections in the water buffalo industry.     

The occurrence of treponemes in contagious ovine digital dermatitis and the characterisation of associated Dichelobacter nodosus

Contagious ovine digital dermatitis (CODD) is a recently recorded, apparently new infection of the ovine hoof, which differs clinically from footrot caused by Dichelobacter nodosus and which fails to respond well to accepted treatment practices for footrot. Despite the welfare implications of such an infection, very little research has been performed on CODD to date and the aetiology remains confused. Suggestions have been made that there is a potential role for treponemes in the pathogenesis of CODD but that D. nodosus is apparently not involved. Six farms were therefore targeted in this study to provide a more in-depth investigation into the bacterial flora of CODD lesions. Dark ground microscopy, culture and PCR techniques were used, concentrating on the presence of D. nodosus and spirochaetes, particularly those of the genus Treponema. The results demonstrated that isolates of D. nodosus were indeed present in a high percentage (74%) of CODD lesions compared with 31% of apparently healthy feet. The isolates were shown to be of similar virulence type to those reported previously in cases of footrot, and the range of serogroups was also found to be similar to footrot, with serogroup H being prevalent. Treponemes were present in 70% of CODD lesions and 38% of apparently healthy feet, supporting a possible association between CODD and treponemes. However, any further progress on the aetiology of CODD and the potential for novel, effective treatment will depend on an improved ability to culture these organisms routinely in the laboratory thereby enabling their complete characterisation.     

Hemodynamic effects of intravenous lidocaine in isoflurane anesthetized cats

Lidocaine dose‐dependently decreases the minimum alveolar concentration (MAC) of isoflurane in cats. The purpose of this study was to determine the hemodynamic effects of six lidocaine plasma concentrations in isoflurane anesthetized cats. Six cats were studied. After instrumentation, end‐tidal isoflurane concentration was set at 1.25 times the individual minimum alveolar concentration (MAC), which was determined in a previous study. Lidocaine was administered intravenously to target pseudo‐steady state plasma concentrations of 0, 3, 5, 7, 9, and 11 μg ml^–1, and isoflurane concentration was reduced to an equipotent concentration, determined in a previous study. Cardiovascular variables; blood gases; PCV; total protein and lactate concentrations; and lidocaine and monoethylglycinexylidide concentrations were measured at each lidocaine target concentration, before and during noxious stimulation. Derived variables were calculated. Data were analyzed using a repeated measures anova , followed by a Tukey test for pairwise comparisons where appropriate. One cat was excluded from analysis because the study was aborted at 7 μg ml^–1 due to severe cardiorespiratory depression. Heart rate, cardiac index, stroke index, right ventricular stroke work index, total protein concentration, mixed‐venous PO₂ and hemoglobin oxygen saturation, arterial and mixed‐venous bicarbonate concentrations, and oxygen delivery were significantly lower during lidocaine administration than when no lidocaine was administered. Mean arterial pressure, central venous pressure, pulmonary artery pressure, systemic and pulmonary vascular resistance indices, PCV, arterial and mixed‐venous hemoglobin concentrations, lactate concentration, arterial oxygen concentration, and oxygen extraction ratio were significantly higher during administration of lidocaine than when no lidocaine was administered. Most changes were significant at lidocaine target plasma concentrations of 7 μg ml^–1 and above. Noxious stimulation did not significantly affect most variables. Despite significantly decreasing in inhalant requirements, when combined with isoflurane, lidocaine produces greater cardiovascular depression than an equipotent dose of isoflurane alone. The use of lidocaine to reduce isoflurane requirements is not recommended in cats.